


the problem of the problem

by atannatek



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Growing Up Together, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings, Park Jaehyung | Jae-centric, Romantic Fluff, established park jaehyung/kim wonpil, failed proposals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27062671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atannatek/pseuds/atannatek
Summary: after years of dating, jae wants to propose to wonpil, but he just keeps doing it in the worst moments and wonpil keeps not understanding what he's trying to do.
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Sungjin, Kim Wonpil/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	the problem of the problem

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally a threadfic on twitter, so you can also find it in my twt acc along with other of my day6 (threadfics, drabbles and sns) aus: [@dowoonbubbles](https://twitter.com/dowoonbubbles)

Jae knows there’s a reason for his problem.

He thinks on it the first time the problem in question shows up. He’s at Wonpil’s apartment, and they’re watching a movie together in the living room. They’re also kissing during the same said movie and not actually watching whatever comedy Wonpil insisted for them to see, but that’s out of the topic.

(Maybe the whole kissing is what distracted him…? _Ugh_. He should have been stronger to resist it).

When the movie finishes, Wonpil excuses himself to go and take a shower as he hadn’t had the chance to do so before with Jae picking him up from work and then they ending up in the couch kissing, leaving Jae alone in the small living room of the apartment.

Silence feels weird when only some seconds ago he had Wonpil there with him.

It always feels like that when Wonpil eventually has to return to his own apartment after they spent a day together. Or when Jae has to do it after staying for ours at Wonpil’s place. And Jae is aware the feeling of missing his boyfriend should be normal, but it just keeps getting stranger and stranger every day—Jae’s been thinking on that in the last weeks. It’s confusing.

And that's when he realizes it.

He doesn't want for Wonpil to leave anymore. Jae wants for them to live together! He wants them to wake up together in the same bed, and to cook breakfast together every day and... Jae sits straighter in the couch when his thoughts go further than that.

Is he really suddenly thinking in marrying Wonpil? The topic comes out of nowhere for him, but it all feels so right and not an inch strange when he repeats the idea on his mind.

Jae really wants to marry Wonpil.

They've been dating for four years by now, and they love each other deeply, he’s very aware of that. But they've never really talked about it, though. Of course, they've mentioned it once or twice, but nothing that serious. Jae at least knows that Wonpil wants to get married someday, judging by how he always sighs so dreamily when someone mentions a wedding.

Jae lets out a silence groan. God. Wonpil sighs when he hears about weddings and he has showed him before some videos with all those perfect proposes! Jae surely has some high expectations to deal with. And that's horrible, considering he's always been awkward with those topics in general.

Jae doesn't know how to do that kind of... _Stuff_. That's the reason of his problem. When he and Wonpil started dating, it had been Wonpil the one who asked him to be his boyfriend and not him. Wonpil also asked for their first date, and not him. He even kissed Jae first!

And that's exactly the reason why he decides that he should be the one asking Wonpil to get married—Wonpil deserves it after being him the one who gave the first step for the most important points of their relationship. And maybe Jae is awkward about it, but he can do it! He just needs a little practice and maybe some research? Jae's sure he can easily find one of those proposals’ videos that Wonpil showed him before. He simply needs to plan everything and keep a cold mind to not ruin anything.

Wonpil returns to the living toom. He's wearing his pajamas now, and his hair is wet, falling over his forehead. They're making out as soon as he reaches the couch.

Jae's glad they're alone at the apartment, because in that way, no one else listens to him after making out turns into grinding, and he asks Wonpil to marry him in a moan. Jae's movements abruptly stop when he realizes what he's done. Shit—but it's _not_ his fault! He was distracted and thinking on marrying Wonpil five minutes ago and then they were grinding, of course Jae was meant to do something as thoughtless as that.

Wonpil looks at him, pink cheeks and pink lips, with confusion. "Are you OK?"

Jae feels mortified to say at least. This wasn't what he wanted at all! He had just thought about proposing and now he just did it out of nowhere, right before sex? Fuck.

But he can't back off now, can he? No, he doesn't want to do it. Not when he has Wonpil still staring at him with his pretty doe eyes and Jae understands that he really wants to spend the rest of his life with him.

"I meant it, Wonpil-ah" he finally speaks, "What I said, I really meant it."

Wonpil's eyes go widen. Jae doesn't know how to take his reaction. Maybe he should have waited to do his research, but again, he wasn't thinking properly!

"Hyung" Wonpil begins, and Jae recognizes his tone: bad news, "I don't think I can do it" Wonpil continues, his blushing increasing. Jae feels his heart sinking when Wonpil covers his face with his hands. "I don't know where you heard or read about it, and I'm sorry if I sound boring for not accepting, but I can't imagine myself doing it!"

"Boring?" Jae asks confused. He thinks he's boring because he just rejected his propose?

"Yes, boring!" Wonpil whinnes behind his hands. "Sorry for being boring, hyung!"

"You're not boring, don't ever say that" Jae replies. "Come here, Wonpil-ah."

He takes Wonpil's hands into his, so they're facing each other again. Wonpil is still blushing. "I'm the one who should be sorry for asking that in that way" Jae says, and he feels his cheeks warmer as he speaks. "I know it was nowhere close to what you expected..."

"We were just kissing!" Wonpil agrees, though Jae knows they weren't simply kissing, but he won't point out that. "And then you... You should have prepared me for that! I feel so embarrassed!" Jae also feels the same. He proposed to his boyfriend and now he's being scolded.

"You never mentioned anything like this before!" Wonpil keeps rambling. He's not even sitting on Jae's lap anymore, walking back and forth in the space in front of the couch. Jae feels clueless. Is Wonpil really that angry because he proposed like that?

"I know, and I'm sorry..." Jae mumbles.

"Have you thought on it before?" Wonpil's question takes him aback. Jae doesn't know how he should answer to that. Of course he didn't think in marrying Wonpil when they first met, but he has the feeling that admitting that will make it worse.

Jae should have used a little more of common sense and just kissed him before. Now, he is in the middle of... In the middle of whatever that is. _An argument? A scolding?_ God, are they breaking up because of that? Jae doesn't want to break up with Wonpil! He wants to marry him!

"Just let me explain this" Jae is quick to say. "I... I love you so much and I know that you love me too! So I just thought it was something natural to ask! I wanted to plan it, but I just couldn't control how excited I felt and I did it. I'm... I'm sorry for being so awkard!"

Wonpil nods slowly, processing his words. "Hyung, it's OK" he begins, and Jae feels a little of relief by the phrase. "You told me about your old relations and I completely understand that you didn't mention too much details because it's your privacy, but these kinds of things” he makes a pause, probably trying to come up with the right choice of words. "These kinds of things involve the two of us" Jae nods, agreeing. "So, we should talk about it, and I think right now it's the best moment considering that you already gave the first big steep!"

Jae nods again. Wonpil is not breaking up with him, they're just going to talk about it, which is the best. OK, he can perfectly handle that—or partially handle it. Jae is really _so_ awkward on those topics.

"I think it's more than clear that I feel uncomfortable talking about this" Wonpil starts. "But I'll do my best!" Jae nods a third time.

So Wonpil's sighs about weddings were in fact... Fearful sighs? And all those proposal videos... What was he even trying to do with them then? Tell Jae that he was uncomfortable with those proposals?

"I just thought it while you were at the bathroom" Jae decides to be honest.

Wonpil cringes. "Just then?"

"I promise!"

Wonpil whispers dramatically, sitting in the couch next to him only then. "That makes this easier then. I thought you had wanted to ask me that for so long! I know how I just reacted, but if that was truth, then it means you didn't tell me about that on purpose, which was bad, because, you know, we've been dating for years and communication is a good pilar in any relationship!" Jae looks at Wonpil. Why does it feel like they're having two whole different conversations? "So" Wonpil adds before Jae can ask anything, "this is your moment, hyung" he closes his eyes, and Jae knows what that gesture means. Whatever he's about to say, makes him feel too embarrassed, so he avoids eye contact. "What else you want to try during sex?"

What the fuck?

"Are we talking about sex now?" Jae questions, completely clueless.

"You started it!" Wonpil argues, opening his eyes. "When you asked me to do..." his cheeks are red. " _That_."

They're definitely having two different conversations. How even...?

"Wonpil-ah" Jae says, trying to order his thoughts. "What do you think I asked you?"

"I'm not saying that!" Wonpil complains. "It's embarrassing!"

"Why not? If I just asked you to..."

"Don't say it either!" Wonpil interrupts him. "I lied! I'm not ready for this chat! Communication is good for couples, but I pass on your weird sex ideas!" Wonpil half screams. Jae frowns. "It's a big no from me, hyung! We're sticking to just conventional sex!"

Jae is really not understanding anything. "Conventional what...?"

Wonpil hushes him, and then, the conversation is apparently over. Jae is probably being kicked out of the apartment as Wonpil mentions it's late and urges him to go to the door, but Jae barely registers that, still trying to understand what just happened.

Jae's conclusions of the day are simple, though. First, he wants to marry Wonpil. Second, whatever Wonpil heard it clearly wasn't a marriage proposal (and Jae's partially glad about the detail when he considers it). Third, he needs to have a serious conversation with Wonpil regarding their sex life to make sure everything is clear between them.

And fourth, the fact that your boyfriend once showed you a video and called it _"the best way to propose in the planet!"_ it's not because that was exactly the title of a video on internet, but because he thought that.

Jae can’t find any of the dreamy proposals.

Wonpil has showed him so many videos in the last months, it's normal for Jae not to remember each of them! Or their titles. Or even where Wonpil watched them. Uh, though he can remember the one where someone used a dog to carry a message to give it to hid partner...? But Jae doesn't have a dog or the time to train one.

Jae doesn't sleep that much that night. All Wonpil's fault in his opinion. Wonpil and his bright doe eyes and his perfect smile and all his cute habits that keep Jae thinking about how much he loves him and how marrying Wonpil will be the best decision of his life.

But of course, Younghyun’s reaction when he tells him about it, it's a frown. Sungjin is also frowning. Sungjin, Younghyun’s new boyfriend who for some reason is also there, in what Jae told Brian to be an emergency meeting.

And don't get him wrong— Jae thinks Sungjin is nice and a good guy, and he makes Younghyun smile a lot, so everything is cool with him. But he's frowning when Jae finishes his story about proposing to Wonpil while grinding in a couch, which is not too much cool to brag about, but it’s a fact that Jae has to leave clear if he wants Younghyun to understand his awful situation.

Eventually, Jae frowns too. Younghyun only speaks after that, "So you realized you want to marry Wonpil while you were making out" he simply says.

"Before making out" Jae corrects him. Was he even paying attention to his story or was he too distracted watching Sungjin instead?

"Right, sorry for messing up the timeline" Younghyun snorts playfully. Sungjin's frown disappears with that, smiling slightly. _Weird_. Younghyun frowned and he frowned. Younghyun smiles and he smiles. Does that turn them into a cuter couple than him and Wonpil? That's quite impossible, Jae thinks. Wonpil alone is definitely cuter than Yonghyun and Sungjin, so they got all the points "You were alone" Younghyun continues, emphasizing the last word, "when you thought about proposing to Wonpil, and then when you were making out, you accidentally did it"

Jae nods, "OK, just to keep the facts straight, we weren't just making out anymore."

Younghyun scowls, "And why would that be so important?"

"Because I was distracted with Wonpil!" Jae explains his point. "I was really, really distracted. Like, _a lot_. You see how bad it is for me?”

Younghyun looks at him, but his answer goes directed only to Sungjin, "I promise he's not usually that clueless. He's really smart when he means it. He’s a great lawyer!"

Jae scoffs, "I'm right here…?"

He shrugs, "I said you're smart."

"Fuck off, Younghyun."

Sungjin's frowning again. Jae tries to ignore the glare he's receiving right now.

"You should be glad that Wonpil confused the whole thing" Younghyun says, also apparently ignoring Sungjin's reaction. "Now you've got a second chance, so don't fuck up everything again and that’s it."

"Noted" Jae nods. And he knows he's about to shoot himself in the foot, but he goes for it anyways cause he's desperate for help and still not romantic an inch, "So, any advice, love birds?"

Surprisingly, Sungjin is the one who answers. "Sorry?"

He's still frowning. And now, Younghyun’s frowning too. Their couple coordination is way too cute, but him and Wonpil are cuter as they have Wonpil, so Jae doesn't waste his time thinking too much on it.

"For my proposal" Jae clarifies, "I'm open for suggestions."

Younghyun’s gaze turns a little bit too intense before blurting in a laugh, "You have no idea what to do, hyung. You’re really a mess."

It's not even a question. Jae doesn't try to correct him. He knows him too well like for Jae to want to argue with him.

"I've got a fair reason, OK?" Jae complains. "Wonpil surely has these super high expectations, and I've never asked no one out in my entire life or kissed someone first, which means I got a problem with starting things in a relationship. And proposing to someone is starting one of the biggest things.”

"Never?" Sungjin wonders, curious. "Is Wonpil your first boyfriend then?"

"No" Jae replies quickly. "I've had like two other girlfriends and a boyfriend before him. But Wonpil's the one for me, I promise. I love that dude so much."

Younghyun snorts, "Don't call Wonpil your 'dude', hyung."

Sungjin also snorts, "And they all asked you out?"

For obvious reasons, Jae decides to answer to Sungjin's comment. "Yes. See? That's the reason of my problem. I don't know how to ask this this kind of things. And Wonpil..." he hums. "Uh, you don't know him, but he's like a bunny filled with hearts. And I'm... I'm just Jae."

"A bunny filled with hearts" Sungjin repeats, frowning.

"Fair comparison" Younghyun says. "Being just Jae is nothing bad, by the way. Just Jae is cool and smart when he's not asking his boyfriend to marry him while making out."

"We weren't just making out! Don't manipulate my story!"

Younghyun rolls his eyes. It doesn't surprise Jae when Sungjin does the same. "You have a lot of work to do, hyung" he tells him. "Flowers, chocolates, fancy dinner in a balcony, a suit if it's possible cause you look nice on suits, but not the ones you use for work..."

Jae is taken aback with one of the advices, "A balcony?"

"So you can propose when the sun starts going down!" Younghyun exclaims. Jae looks at Sungjin, who also seems to be confused by the statement. "Wonpil will love it, you know that."

Jae nods. Yes, Wonpil loves gazing at the sky and his favorite moment of the day is when the sun falls.

Younghyun keeps rambling about more ideas that Jae makes sure to write on his phone so he won't forget them. After talking a lot, he announces he needs a drink, so he stands up from the table they're sitting at the cafeteria and goes to the counter.

Jae and Sungjin are both quiet without him in the table.

He doesn't really know Sungjin, so they both stare at their phones awkwardly, ignoring the other. But also, Sungjin has just heard too much of Jae's problems, so he ends up putting down his phone and calling Sungjin's name out loud. He is frowning. Again. Wonpil is definitely cuter.

"You want to say something, right?" Jae wonders.

Sungjin gives a glance to the counter, where Younghyun is still ordering, before letting out a sigh. "I kind of understand you."

"Uh?" now, Jae's the one frowning.

"I'm not good with that kind of stuff either" Sungjin continues. He's whispering, probably imagining that Younghyun can listen to him even from where he is (and partially, Jae wants to clarify him that is completely impossible, though he doesn’t). "But Younghyun is, and sometimes I feel bad cause I don't know how to reciprocate that. If I were you" Sungjin continues in a whispers, "I'd just ask him anytime when I'm with him, because you know, each moment with him is the right one."

Jae purses his lips together, "You're a liar. That was romantic, dude."

Sungjin rolls his eyes. "Thanks."

"I thought about that too" Jae starts to say. “Just asking him and explaining to him how I feel about it.”

"Yeah, I noticed" Sungjin snorts.

Jae raises a brow, "But, we weren't exaggerating when we say all those things about Wonpil. He's worse than Younghyun on that. Or better, depends on your perspective. And after everything that he's done for me" Jae adds, "I want to do this right for him this time. He deserves puppies with flowers carrying a ring."

Sungjin laughs, "A puppy?"

“He once showed me a video about someone proposing with a puppy, I promise!"

Sungjin looks at him in what seems to be disbelief. "He's shown you videos of proposes?"

"He did it for a while" Jae nods. "He stopped like a month ago, though? But he still watches that reality show about weddings and asks me to watch it with him sometimes."

Before Sungjin can reply, Younghyun returns with his coffee. He looks at his boyfriend with a confused gesture, probably because Sungjin himself is a confused grimace. "What were you talking about, uh?" "

Puppies!" Jae says quickly.

Sungjin frowns, but agrees. "Yeah, puppies."

Jae still thinks there's a reason to his problem when he fails in his second attempt. It's Friday. He's in Wonpil apartment, waiting for his boyfriend to come back from the school where he teaches piano. He usually picks up Wonpil on Fridays, but this day is different.

Wonpil's class is having a recital soon, so he sent a message to Jae saying he was staying later and test he shouldn't have to worry about arriving at three as he usually does. Jae had only scanned the text while he was at the flower shop, too busy sneezing and deciding what flowers to buy like to read it carefully, but he still got the important part of it.

After the flower shop and other text of Wonpil that mentioned finishing his class at six, with the realization that he had even more time than what he thought, Jae was kind of relaxed. He arrived at Wonpil's apartment at four to start cooking for him and preparing everything.

Luckily, Wonpil had given him a spare key for emergencies; a title that couldn’t precisely fit for his situation, as for the first time in days, Jae's sure he's got everything under control. He means, he sneezed a lot because of the flowers in the apartment (damn allergies), and he probably messed up the food a bit and had to call Younghyun, but that was the best Jae has been since the failed proposal in the couch and after a whole week barely sleeping, too busy trying to remember what was Wonpil's dreamy propose video even about (Jae's probably a bad boyfriend for not remembering it. He hopes he's better as a husband).

Jae finishes cooking. The table is already set and he still has some minutes before six, so everything is fine. He sits in the couch, that one that is right in front the main door of the apartment, and waits, doing his best not to fall asleep as he wants to keep his suit neat.

Turns out, he does fall asleep. It's been a tired week, after all; too busy planning Wonpil's surprise for today and dealing with all the things of the new divorce case he's managing... The sound of a door opening wakes him up. Jae curses out loud.

"Nice to see you too, Jae hyung" Dowoon greets him where he stands near the door, making it clear he was the one who opened it. He's taking his shoes off and has a backpack hanging from one of his arms. "See? You can say hello without saying fu—"

Jae blinks. "Why are you here?"

Dowoon raises a brow, "Because it's Friday?"

Slowly, Jae nods, feeling a little dazed for his nap. Dowoon is Wonpil's best friend, but he's still finishing his master degree, so he only stays in the apartment during the weekends and spends the rest of the days sleeping in one of the buildings near the university campus. Friday is the beginning of the weekend, so it makes sense that Dowoon is there.

 _Shit_. Jae should have remembered Dowoon.

"You need to leave before Wonpil arrives" he blurts out. Dowoon, who is already in the kitchen, screams a 'why?' as a response. "I prepared a surprise for him!"

"Yeah, I saw it" Dowoon's voice is closer now. He returns to the living room. "You don't have to worry about anything, hyung" the boy's smiling. "I promise I won't eat anything while you go and pick up Wonpil hyung."

Jae frowns, "I'm not picking up Wonpil today."

"But it's Friday?" Dowoon looks confused, "I thought it was your agreement."

"Don't call it an agreement" Jae whines. "It's our special thing."

Dowoon's ears turn suddenly red. "No, your special thing is to always make me feel uncomfortable when I arrive because you love to make out in the living room and..."

"It only happened three times!"

Dowoon chuckles. His ears are still red "Just go for Wonpil hyung. I'll be in my room when you return and I won't brother you, OK?"

Jae rolls his eyes "I already told you I'm not picking up Wonpil today! He told me he was staying later to practice with the kids for his recital."

Dowoon squints at him, "Wonpil hyung told you not to pick him up?"

Jae nods. "Yup. He told me I shouldn't worry about being there at three because he was staying later."

"And he explicitly told you not to pick him up?" Dowoon repeats.

Jae frowns. He takes out his phone from his pocket, opening Wonpil's conversation. Before reading the last new messages from his boyfriend, Jae also realizes he has five missing calls from Wonpil. He also realizes that his phone was muted. And that he's a terrible boyfriend.

Fuck _. Fuck, fuck, fuck_ — Jae stands from the couch quickly, and he walks to the table next to the door to grab his car keys. He's aware of Dowoon's confused gaze over him as he leaves the apartment, but all Jae can think as he's in the elevator is in Wonpil's last message.

It's kind of ironic that he bumps over Wonpil as soon as he leaves the elevator, when he's already in the main floor. It's kind of ironic too when Wonpil ignores him and closes the door of the elevator before Jae can get in again.

Jae checks at the time on his cellphone as he waits for the elevator to come down. It's half hour past seven. The school where Wonpil works is like fifteen minutes away in car, and maybe forty in bus, which means Wonpil waited for him almost an entire hour. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._

He completely deserves Wonpil refusing to open the door of his room when he is back at the apartment. Dowoon is nowhere to be seen, and everything that Jae prepared for the dinner is still there. But Wonpil is locked in his room, and he's playing the keyboard. Loudly. He does that when he’s stressed or upset.

"Wonpil-ah, I'm sorry" Jae calls from behind the door. It's probably his imagination, but suddenly the sound of the keyboard becomes louder. "I though you didn't want me to pick you up! I'm sorry!"

"I'm tired" Wonpil says back over the music. "Just leave, I want to sleep."

"But you're practicing!" Jae complains. "Wonpil-ah..." The music is even louder this time. Jae wonders how is possible for a keyboard to be so noisy. Wonpil doesn't reply back. "I cooked for you!" Jae tries again. "It's your favorite!"

Again, no answer.

"Wonpil-ah" Jae calls a third time. "You're right to be mad at me, but can you please come out so we can talk?"

The music stops for a second.

"I don't want to talk to you!" Wonpil groans, "You're acting weird!"

Does weird mean being a bad boyfriend?

"First you said that when we were kissing!" Wonpil continues as Jae doesn't, "And then these days we've barely talked because you're busy with work and I get it, but you also have other stuff in your head that's been bothering you, and it has to be with me! I'm sure! And today you didn't answer any of my messages or my calls, and you ditched me on a Friday! Fridays are _our_ thing!" Wonpil waits a few seconds before continuing. "Do you want to break up with me?"

Jae's jaw drops, "What...? Of course no! I want to marry you!"

The door finally opens. Wonpil looks upset, "Don't use that right now, hyung. It's a low blow."

Jae shakes his head. Right, proposing during an argument isn’t probably the best idea, "I don't want to break up with you, Wonpil-ah. I... I didn't notice I was acting so weird. I'm sorry."

Wonpil pouts, "Then what is it?"

Jae sighs, "It's just work, OK?" Wonpil doesn't look convinced at all but he allows Jae to hug him. "Believe me when I say I want to marry you" Jae tries a second time. He feels Wonpil's chuckle to his chest. "Can we get married, please?"

"Stop teasing me, hyung! You ditched me today" Wonpil remembers him, breaking the embrace. He's not upset anymore, though, Jae can say. At least not as much as he was when he saw him at the elevator. "Asking me to marry you won't make me forget that, so stop with it."

Jae frowns, "You think I'm joking?"

Wonpil bops his head, "It's fine, hyung! You don't have to do that. I mean, I did wait for you a lot, but I guess it was just an accident?" Slowly, Jae nods. "See? Solved. Dowoonie told me you cooked for me, let's go and eat. I don't want to talk about this anymore as long as you promise it won’t happen again.”

Jae does exactly that. As they eat, Wonpil pouts when Jae explains him about when he bought the flowers and how much he’s been sneezing, about how he planned the dinner and how he fell asleep in the couch. And then, when Jae mentions wanting to marry him again, Wonpil chuckles and kisses him.

"Stop doing that!" Wonpil tells him giggling, "You don't have to do it only because you were confused today! It's fine! You already prepared this dinner for me.”

Jae stops trying some minutes later. Apparently, Wonpil won't accept any of his proposals as he thinks Jae is simply joking, which completely sucks.

But Jae tells himself that's fine. He probably didn't get to propose that night (well he did, but he was rejected each time,), but that doesn't mean he won't have other chance of doing it soon. He's going to plan it better this time, and it all it's going to be perfect for Wonpil because that’s exactly what he deserves.

He doesn't think the same when he wakes up the next day and Wonpil is not in the bed. Jae knows he should be planning Wonpil's perfect proposal, but he also thinks in what Sungjin said and how much he wants to marry him and wants Wonpil to know that. And after the outcome of last night, maybe planning isn’t something made for Jae.

There's someone in the kitchen in that moment. Jae can listen to the sound of something being cooked in the stove, and he is very much aware it's Wonpil, considering Dowoon hates cooking and Wonpil spoils him during his days with him.

Jae takes a deep breath before leaving the bedroom.

"Wonpil-ah" he calls for his boyfriend even if he hasn't reached the kitchen yet. He needs to be done with it before Wonpil has the chance of telling him it's a joke, so he just goes for it. He kneels next to one of the kitchen's counter, the one closest to the living room. "Would you really marry me?" he asks, shutting his eyes because yeah, he's fucking nervous! It's not like yesterday when he was mortified because he forgot to pick up Wonpil, and definitely, it isn’t like the first time. "Please don't think I'm saying this because I'm sleepy. I mean it. I love you and I want to marry you.”

There's a laugh. Not Wonpil's—Jae recognizes Wonpil's laugh and that's _not_ his. He opens his eyes. Dowoon is looking at him, a brow rose. He has a plate in his hands. And his face is read because he keeps laughing. "And cut?" he says between his laughs.

Jae quickly stands up. "Since when do you cook?" he expects that his voice sounds bothered instead of embarrassed. Dowoon's grin tells him otherwise. "And where's Wonpil?"

"Wonpil hyung left early to check some things for the recital" Dowoon says, grinning as he takes a cup from the counter. "He's probably calling you in any moment" Dowoon adds, taking a sip from his cup. It smells like coffee. Just as if it Dowoon had magic, Jae's phone rings. It's on Wonpil's room, but they can hear it even on the kitchen. Jae made sure for it to have enough volume. "Like, now."

Jae goes to the room and answers the call. Dowoon's right: Wonpil needed to organize something with the principal about some permission, as they're having the recital in a private auditorium and not in the school's facilities. Dowoon is already eating when Jae finishes the call.

He asks him something in the minute he sits in the counter with him, but Jae doesn't understand anything as his mouth is filled with food. "Stop eating if you want to talk" Jae groans, resting his head over the counter.

Dowoon seems impatient, but he waits until he's done eating what he has in his mouth before repeating: "Where's my ring, hyung?" and this time it comes out clear.

Jae doesn't move his head from the counter. He can see Dowoon anyways, "What do you even mean with that?"

"Umh, you proposed?" Dowoon says, suddenly confused. "Where's my ring, hyung? Usually there's a ring, but I don't see it."

Jae's sure he's smart; even Younghyun says it so. Jae finished college with good grades and he got a job almost instantly after graduating in a nice firm from the city because he proved to be that good in his classes, and even people at the office often asks for his advice no matter if he is considerably new in the business. But he might have forgotten to buy a ring in the entire week he planned Wonpil's dinner. _Maybe_ —which means he completely forgot about it. Oh God.

Jae knows he's blushing. "I don't have one," he hates to admit it.

Dowoon frowns, "You were proposing without a ring because it was a thing of the moment then, right?" Jae doesn't answer back. Dowoon lets out a scream of surprise. "You were really proposing a few minutes ago?"

"Why do you all think I'm joking about that?" Jae groans, finally raising his head from the counter "I wouldn't joke about something like that."

"Sorry, hyung" Dowoon's ears are turning red again like last night. "But uh, it was so random, and you didn't even notice it was me and not Wonpil hyung to who you were proposing."

"That was really stupid from me anyways" Jae mumbles with a shrug. At least Dowoon is being nice with him. Younghyun and Sungjin would be both frowning if they were there. He deserves it. He’s really being a mess with the situation and it’s only been a week since he started this and Jae already tried to propose three times—Jae thinks he has the biggest problem. How did he manage to get to spend four entire years with Wonpil if he can’t do something as simple as asking him to marry him correctly?

"Hold on" Dowoon stops his fork in the middle of his way to his mouth, his eyes widening, "All of us think you’re joking? You already talked to Wonpil about this?"

"I’ve proposed twice" says Jae, defeated. "A week ago, and yesterday."

Dowoon's ears get red and red. "Was that before or after that other thing you suggested him? Maybe that has to do with him believing it was a joke...?"

Jae moans, "God, Wonpil told you about that?" Dowoon nods. "What did he even think I was talking about? I was proposing!"

Dowoon hums. Now his face is all red too. "Oh, proposing. Well, that's a lot different from what I heard."

Jae sighs, "Whatever. I fucked it up yesterday too. And today, with you" he wrinkles his nose. "It's the third time I try, and nothing is even close to what Wonpil wants or even a normal proposal."

His voice sounds sadder than what he expected it to be.

“Hyung" Dowoon calls him. "Wonpil is not coming until later, we can go and look for a ring for him meanwhile if you want."

Jae looks at him, "Are you serious?"

"Well, if you want to propose to hyung, you need a ring!"

Before leaving the apartment, once they’ve both gotten ready, Dowoon asks him, "Are you gonna do it again today? Because if you need me to leave the apartment—"

"No" Jae answers. "You're here to see Wonpil, it's fine. And I have to plan something anyways.”

Dowoon looks amused, "Oh, so you're making a plan?"

"I had a plan yesterday!"

Dowoon chuckles, "Then what was the thing of the kitchen?"

"I don’t know if you noticed, but I love Wonpil so, so much" Jae says. "I just... I guess I couldn't resist it. I really want to spend the rest of my life with him."

"That's sweet" Dowoon agrees. He’s smiling. "So, what are you gonna do now?" he wonders.

Jae stops in the middle of the hall where they're walking, thinking. "Dowoonie, you like animals, right?" the boy nods, confused. "Do you know someone that could lend me a puppy for a couple of days?"

For his fourth attempt, for once, Jae's problem is not himself and his lack of abilities to show initiative for his relationship. His problem is Bubbles.

(Bubbles is a dog).

And maybe Dowoon, if he wants to blame someone and not feel that much pity for himself.

During the week, when Jae received a call from Dowoon telling him he had the perfect dog for his proposal to Wonpil, Jae thought it all was going to be easy considering the boy kept repeating the word ‘perfect’ as he talked about Bubbles, the puppy of one of his friends.

It was simple then, Jae had thought: Bubbles is perfect, then Jae's propose is meant to be perfect too—except that it's _not_. Jae knows that in the moment he has a stranger in the door of his apartment, giving him a dog that's too big and who doesn't seem to fit the name "Bubbles" at all.

Jae can barely carry the dog when Dowoon's friend, as the man in front of him identifies himself, lends it to him.

"Are you sure this one is for me?" Jae asks in a high pitch, struggling to keep the big dog in his arms. Bubbles is already barking in his arms. Noisily barking.

"Dowoonie said you wanted a puppy" Hajoon, which is the name of the man, tells him. He's frowning. Is everyone going to frown to Jae in these days?

"This is a puppy?!" Jae exclaims, giving up carrying Bubbles and leaving her in the floor. He hears steeps going in the apartment.

There's something falling in some place too. Hajoon's grinning at the sound, looking ashamed. "She's a Great Dane, but it's still a puppy! Only eight months. She's very active, so she'll keep you a bit busy."

Jae doesn't know anything about dogs, so he simply nods.

He also has to be in the office earlier than usual today, so he keeps nodding to the rest of recommendations that Hajoon gives to him.

"Dowoonie told me it was an emergency" Hajoon says at some point. Only then is that Jae notices that his voice gets softer when he says the name. Weird. "I hope she solves your problem" Hajoon adds shyly, "Dowoonie's call was kinda a miracle, we almost lost our hope with Bubbles..."

But Jae is barely listening to Hajoon right now, too busy wondering why is the boy also blushing now while saying Dowoon's name. Definitely _weird_.

Also, the noises on his back are becoming louder, which means, whatever Bubbles is doing, is probably not good. Hajoon blushes even harder for that. "You'll love her! Just... She's having a hard time since all her brothers and sisters are gone too and she is the only one who hasn’t found a home yet."

Jae tilts his head, "Ah, so she feels lonely?"

"Exactly!" Hajoon agrees. Jae nods at that. He'll only have Bubbles for a few days, according to what he asked to Dowoon, so no matter how difficult it'll be, Jae will try to get along with Bubbles. He also felt a little lonely when he moved from his parents' house and started living by his own in a whole different city. It was also scary. Jae doesn’t want for the puppy to experiment something like that.

When Hajoon finally leaves is that Jae understands what all the sound was about. Bubbles is sitting in the couch right now, playing with Jae's jacket suit, but the coffee table of the living room is turned upside down and the small plant pot he had over it is broken. It's a mess.

Jae hurries to take his jacket before Bubbles can continue playing with it. He surely has to pick other one to wear to the office or else, his boss wouldn't probably like that one that now seems to have small holes on its back.

Bubbles barks as soon as Jae approaches her.

Jae looks at her in panic. Why is she barking? Jae should be the one mad between the two considering his suit it's ruined and he needs to get ready for his job or else he’ll be late.

Dowoon said the dog was going to be perfect, but Bubbles is barking at him and she just destroyed his suit.

But then Jae thinks _, OK, maybe she's just waiting for an order or something? If she's that perfect as Dowoon said then she knows how to behave._ That makes sense for him, so he decides to try it out.

"Uh, Bubbles" Jae says in the most commanding way he manages (again, he doesn't know anything about dogs! He just wants to plan a nice proposal, please). "Leave that suit right now!"

Bubbles barks at him again. She's obviously not letting the suit go. Jae groans. He takes a look at the watch on his wrist. Shit. He doesn't have time to deal with this.

He calls Younghyun as he walks up stairs to get a new suit jacket, "Hey, I need a favor."

He can hear Sungjin's voice in the back.

"What kind of favor now?" Younghyun mumbles, clearly just waking up. "I saved your ass with the cooking of the other night and as far as I know, you and Wonpil are not engaged yet—"

“I have a dog in my apartment" Jae interrupts him. He doesn’t have time either for his complains about Jae being terribly at proposing, "A puppy. I need you to take care of it. Please."

"A puppy?" Younghyun’s voice changes abruptly. "Ows, is it cute?"

There's another noise in the floor below. From the small balcony that's his room in the apartment, Jae can see that Bubbles is now interested in the kitchen's cabinets.

"The cutest," he decides to say. He feels a little guilty at that, but he shrugs it off quickly when the thought of his clients being taken away by another lawyer of the firm just because he was late for an important meeting appears in his mind, "But Dowoon's friend told me she has problems with being alone" he continues explaining. He manages to get into his shoes as he does. "She'll only be here until the weekend, and I plan getting someone to take care of her, but I got to leave to the office right now, and that’s why I’m calling you.”

"It's my free day today anyways" Younghyun informs him. "Just leave the key of your apartment under the rug and we'll do it. Don't worry!"

Jae doesn't ask what he means with ‘ _we_ ’. Sungjin's groan in the back is enough to understand it.

  
“What do you mean with adopting that dog?!” Jae is whispering a scream towards his phone. In the office there’s a clear invisible sign stating that screams are forbidden during work time, so Jae is whispering exactly because of that. And also, he would never actually scream to Dowoon. Not even right now that he’s desperate and confused and _completely_ irritated.

Dowoon, on the line, doesn’t dissimulate his obvious panic. “That was my same reaction when Hajoon hyung called me” he quickly elaborates a statement to defend himself. “But I promise I told him you’d only watch Bubbles during this week because you were proposing to your boyfriend!”

“I don’t even have enough space for her in my apartment. You should see her, she’s _huge_ ” Jae continues mumbling. He’s sitting at his desk right now, with a pile of documents from the case he’s managing in a pile next to it that he’s currently ignoring as it’s his break time. His office is small compared to some of the other lawyers in the firm, but at least he has a space for his own to have privacy in matters like this (nor that he’s planning for this experience to ever be repeated—definitely _not_ ). The only inconvenient is probably the fact that the wall that faces the hall is partially made of crystal, which means that Jae has to pretend a smile when one of the secretaries walks by and bows on his direction.

“But Hajoon hyung said she’s just a puppy,” Dowoon replies.

“She’s a Great Dane!” Jae quickly cuts him. “She doesn’t look like a puppy at all!”

Dowoon sighs. Jae huffs. “I bet she’s cute at least.”

“She destroyed one of my suits today” Jae informs him. “And my table, _and_ my plant. Probably the kitchen’s cabinets too.”

“And you left her alone even after that?” Dowoon, different to him, is screaming. He’s surely at his dorm right now or at any other place but a gloomy office where you can’t scream when you’re stressed.

“Of course not” Jae huffs again. “I asked Younghyun to take care of her. If he made it on time, hopefully my kitchen’s cabinets are fine.”

“Younghyun’s your friend” Dowoon says in a low voice, as if he’s trying to remember him. Until that moment Jae realizes that Dowoon probably has never met Younghyun in person and he just know him by the name. “I’m gonna talk to Hajoon hyung about Bubbles, don’t worry hyung! But before I do…” there’s hesitation in his voice. “Would you consider really adopting Bubbles? Hajoon hyung mentioned they haven’t been able to find a home for her yet.”

Jae hums, remembering also hearing something similar from Hajoon that morning. Bubbles feels lonely, he remembers too. She doesn’t have her brothers and sisters now and no family to adopt her. He has a weak heart for that, but still… “I’m barely at my apartment” Jae admits. “When I’m not in the office, I’m usually with Wonpil, and right now, I spend even more time at the office than with Wonpil so I don’t think I can make that work out. Sorry, Dowoon-ah.”

There’s another sigh. In this occasion, Jae doesn’t huff.

“It’s OK, hyung” Dowoon answers, his voice suddenly cheerful. “I’ll let Hajoon hyung know that. I…” there’s hesitation again. By this point, Jae finally stars wonder if Dowoon has the same look as Hajoon’s when he spoke about him because his voice also turns slightly softer when he mentions the guy’s name. What does that even mean anyways? “Is there any chance that maybe by the end of the weekend you’d consider it again?” he asks. His voice is doing that weird thing of being cheerful without any apparent reason. Jae doesn’t know if that’s because Hajoon or the fact that if Jae keeps Bubbles that would mean he’d have a puppy to see during the weekends, and everyone knows Dowoon loves animals.

Jae can’t avoid a sigh this time. He thinks in Bubbles destroying his apartment and his suits, but in also her being lonely and the fact that he’d only be using her for some days suddenly feels so wrong because he’d make her company for the rest of the week only to abandon her at the end of it.

He simply wanted to copy a nice proposal! Not to suddenly have a moral crisis and almost be about to adopt a dog that he knows so well is going to be extremely difficult to take care of.

“Don’t tell anything to Hajoon yet” Jae finally groans, covering his face with the hand he’s not using to hold the phone.

Dowoon whines excited. Again, Jae doesn’t know if it’s for Hajoon or the chance of seeing Bubbles during the weekends. When Dowoon’s celebrating screams become the complains of a third voice, Jae slightly pulls the phone away from his ear.

He can handle that, right?

Bubbles hates Jae.

It probably has to do with the fact that Jae had forgotten to buy her food the first night she was with him (just as Younghyun had told him to do when he called him to ask with what was he supposed to feed Bubbles) and had only remembered it near midnight.

By midnight, all the stores near Jae’s apartment building were closed. Bubbles was barking a lot and Jae didn’t blame her—she was hungry, Jae was a mess, arriving later than usual from the office and having to call Wonpil from the hall to explain how he couldn’t go to his apartment that day.

Jae ended up looking on internet for alternatives to feed a great Dane eight months puppy. Surprisingly, there were forums about it.

The next morning, he made sure to wake up earlier to have the chance to go to the store and buy Bubbles some food before leaving to the office.

He wasn’t lying to Youunghyun when he told him he had planned in looking someone to take care of the dog —not like he did on the part of Bubbles being the cutest, as Younghyun had complained about—. Since that morning, Jae left Bubbles with his neighbor Jimin from C-15 (alongside the package of food he had just bought and money to pay Jimin for the favor).

Luckily, Jimin also had a dog, so Jae thought that was a good environment for Bubbles. Jimin didn’t comment that much about Bubbles after her first day with the dog, only suggesting something related to Bubbles having lots of energy and recommending a morning walk with her.

That’s the reason why, since Wednesday, Jae takes Bubbles on a walk around the block before going to the office. He has to wake up at five in the morning to have enough time to do that, but Bubbles seems happy and she doesn’t bark that much when they return to the apartment, so Jae thinks it’s worthy.

She stills ripped other two suits from Jae, though. And there’s still the chance that the dog hates him for the food incident.

Or probably, it has to do with the fact that Jae has been insisting in placing a bow around Bubbles neck.

Bubbles doesn’t like wearing a bow a bit. Jae doesn’t like Bubbles not liking to wear it (how else is he going to secure the ring on her neck if not from the cute bow collar?). Bubbles doesn’t like Jae because he keeps trying to put that damn bow around her neck.

Jae doesn’t like Bubbles not liking him— and the bow thing is still important!

It’s already Friday, but Jae hasn’t still managed for Bubbles to accept wearing the bow, or even obeying him when he calls for her name. 

It’s has become a small routine by now; Jae arriving from work, picking up Bubbles from Jimin’s and then trying to train her following the advices from people on forums (they have good information there—Jae’s surprised by the amount of advices he’s taken from there. He somewhat wonders if there’s a forum about proposals). That not working is also part of their routine.

On Saturday, one day before his fourth attempt, Jae is not needed on the office, so after their morning walk, he tells himself it’s crucial for him to succeed with Bubbles training or else it all will be a failure— _again_.

Dowoon had told him that he’d go to help him out with that, so when Jae hears knocks at his door in the middle of his training with Bubbles, it doesn’t surprise him at all.

But Wonpil, standing in front of him instead of Dowoon, does.

He’s quickly hugging Jae and greeting him with a soft peck on the lips. And Bubbles is barking a lot.

Wonpil frowns at that. Jae’s figure is covering the entrance of the apartment, so he moves to his right trying to see past behind his boyfriend. “Is that a dog?”

“No…?” Jae tries. Wonpil frowns, so he stops trying, remembering him feeling upset because Jae was acting weird a week ago, and lying about having a dog inside his apartment will definitely enter to the classification of ‘weird’, “I just thought about it a few days ago!” Jae quickly replies. Hasn’t Wonpil told him that he has been acting weird the past week? And isn’t that exactly what he’s doing right now? Fuck, fuck. “Dowoon mentioned that one of his friends worked on a dog shelter and I thought it would be a great idea to adopt one.”

But Wonpil is still looking at him as if he had grown two other heads when Jae allows him to enter to the apartment, “You can have a dog in here?”

“As long as they don’t bother the neighbors” Jae answers, passing a hand on the back of his neck. “Remember Jimin? She has a dog too and she takes care of Bubbles while I’m at work.”

Wonpil stops frowning and even if he doesn’t seem to be completely convinced, he nods. “We can’t have dogs at my building” he says with a grimace, “Is Jimin still working on her book?”

Jae nods back, “Yeah, that’s why she’s most of her time in her apartment. She likes Bubbles and she says Bubbles likes being with her too.”

“That’s her name? Bubbles?” Wonpil looks back to Bubbles, who is currently sitting on her corner with Jae’s forgotten suits. He coos, “It’s so sweet, hyung!”

“Hajoon chose it” Jae explains, wishing for a second it had been his idea. Wonpil really seems to love the name of the dog. “She already came with it.”

For some reason, Wonpil smiles at Hajoon’s mention.

It’s not like Dowoon’s smile towards it, though, like Jae discovered last night when he went to Wonpil’s apartment. Wonpil’s ears aren’t red either.

“Are you always like this?” Wonpil gestures towards the pieces of newspaper on the floor; he looks confused again. Bubbles barks from her corner. At least she’s not trying to bite Wonpil— _yet_. Jae hopes she won’t try it with Wonpil.

Jae shakes his head. He goes to the kitchen’s counter where he had left the bow and raises it so Wonpil can see it. “I was trying to make her wear this” he admits, defeated. “But I can’t even get her still and she keeps trying to bite my shorts—“

Wonpil chuckles. Jae snorts at his reaction.

“Sorry for that!” he says between his laughs when he notices Jae’s muddled expression. “But this is all so… Funny. You suddenly wanting to have a dog and even want to make her wear a bow? It’s something unexpected! It’s almost as if you were lying.”

Jae thinks that laughing is a fairly good reaction. He can deal with Wonpil’s laughs because they always have the same effect over him and soon he’s chuckling too. Besides, he can notice a glimpse of sadness in Wonpil’s gestures, surely because Jae is definitely acting weird at his eyes, “Sorry for not telling you about her” Jae says at some point when the laughs are over, “I would have preferred for you to meet in a very different situation.”

Bubbles come to them then. She puts her paws over Wonpil’s jeans and it’s barking. Wonpil is startled at the beginning for the contact and he almost falls down, but he’s soon caressing Bubbles and doing his best to avoid getting bitten.

Jae thinks asking him to marry him right now is not the worst scenario.

He has the ring in his bedroom, and he tells himself how easy would it be to go and grab it and then just ask Wonpil in that moment.

But he’s so close of achieving Wonpil’s dream proposal, he also tells himself. He already spent all those days working with Bubbles, and Dowoon had helped him planned everything for tomorrow—he’s that close and he’s not going to ruin it this time. Wonpil doesn’t deserve that; he doesn’t deserve either Jae lying to him, but if he gets to propose tomorrow as expected, Jae will be able then to explain him everything.

So, Jae doesn’t go to look for the ring and he simply tries to get Bubbles off from Wonpil before she manages to bite him.

Tomorrow will be the day. He can wait for that.

Jae thinks his problem is stupid when fourth attempt becomes only fourth attempt and not a _‘we’re engaged!’_ celebration party.

The new plan was simple: they went to the park that Sunday, and different to the original plan, Dowoon was also with them considering Bubbles wasn’t a secret to keep from Wonpil anymore.

They had a small picnic in one of the many tables in the park. There were many families also there — _and_ dogs. Those many families also have their dogs with them.

And now Jae knows that Bubbles doesn’t like other dogs except for Jimin’s.

At least she was wearing the bow when she chased all those dogs around the park—Dowoon has been the one who succeeded at making her wear it (even Wonpil had tried to help at some point the day before when he was at Jae’s apartment, but he eventually gave up).

At least the bow didn’t have the ring on it.

Because if that had been the case—if Jae hadn’t forgotten it at the apartment and noticed it on time, the ring would be as lost as Bubble’s bow when they finally managed to stop her from chasing other dogs.

(Jae really forgot the ring. He’s a _disaster_. He has the _biggest_ problem).

(The biggest, silliest but somehow also smartest problem considering that he still has the ring when he could have lost it. Jae’s mind can be brilliant regarding proposal matters when he doesn’t even try to, which is so ironic.)

Fourth attempt was terrible, but at least they enjoyed ten minutes of their picnic before the Bubble’s incident. And even after it, when they returned to Jae’s apartment, Wonpil’s nags to Bubbles quickly became sweet words when they puppy started licking his cheeks, and they managed to spend a nice day all together inside.

(Jae thinks Wonpil being a teacher and knowing how to deal with all kind of students influenced that his relation with Bubbles quickly developed into a civil one. Now, regarding Dowoon, he’s just always been good with animals so it doesn’t surprise Jae either when Bubbles easily gets along with him).

(Bubbles still doesn’t like Jae, by the way. But she stays at his apartment even after fourth attempt and Jimin still takes care of her while Jae’s at the office. During Fridays, after picking up Wonpil from work, they now usually go directly to Jae’s apartment to see Bubbles instead of going out for dinner or watching a movie. And Jae likes it a lot to see how Wonpil coos at everything Bubbles does and how he insists in taking her to bed with them as the weather is changing and each day is getting colder, and God forbids them from leaving Bubbles sleeping alone in the living room or in the balcony from the apartment).

Now, fifth attempt is something Jae’s not particularly proud of. Neither sixth. Or seventh. Or eight.

Younghyun had laughed when Jae told him about fifth and sixth, so Jae decided to keep seventh and eight as a personal embarrassment.

Jae is starting to think his problem might be bigger than what he has thought it to be.

He means, he has proposed to Wonpil eight times in a row during almost two months now; and either he ruins it or he’s not clear enough with it for Wonpil to understand, so of course he’s better going to stop sharing those failures and fix his problem, but he _can’t_.

Probably, from the last four, he can define as the worst the seventh one, when he asked Wonpil to marry him in the middle of sex and Wonpil didn’t even listen to him. No—he better chooses number six as the worst, when he prepared a long speech for Wonpil only to discover that his boyfriend was sleeping and didn’t hear anything.

(Jae cried during that speech! He was talking about how they met at college and how he was so happy when Wonpil asked him out because he couldn’t find the courage to do it himself first. He even mentioned how he’d tried to propose before and how he was doing his best to have some initiative in their relation because Wonpil deserved it after being the best boyfriend in the entire world).

That’s why Jae decides nine has to be his lucky number—because he has been thinking on marrying Wonpil for what seems ages now and he can’t still make it (only a month and three weeks to be exact but for Jae it feels like ages so he’s calling it ages).

But before attempt nine, there’s Wonpil’s recital.

Wonpil has been stressed over that in the past few days (reason which made Jae’s attempt number eight a little uncomfortable considering his bad mood in the moment), so Jae is not surprised when Wonpil claims that he would be working on the last arrangements for the event since the morning. 

He doesn’t hear anything about him until five, when Jae arrives at the auditorium where the recital will be held. It’s a Tuesday and the final term week before winter break, so Jae is there by his own even if Dowoon had expressed before the wish of going too.

Wonpil is talking with one of his students when Jae sees him.

Jae doesn’t know what their conversation is about—he’s too far of them to guess that, but he can’t avoid but smile when he notices how Wonpil is pretending to play the piano with his hands in the air, and how the little girl looks at him with attention and imitates his movements.

He’s so lucky of having found someone like Wonpil.

Jae watches how Wonpil continues with his playing in the air for a few more seconds before the girl screams something about being ready for the final check and hugs Wonpil. She's so small she barely reaches his hip.

As a reflex, Jae searches with his hand the inside pocket of his suit, where he would keep the ring box in case he’d carry it with him. Something that he had precisely decided to stop doing since the attempt number eight, when Wonpil was arguing with some parents from their piano class and Jae decided to propose in the middle of that because he wanted Wonpil to stop being upset.

(It was a bad argument. Wonpil would sometimes turn off the microphone and groan, take a deep breath and then return to the phone call as if everything was perfect and his patient was infinitive, considering that in that moment they were at Jae’s and Bubbles was insisting for him to play with her).

It has been a bad moment to ask him to marry him, but Jae couldn’t control himself! He wanted to distract Wonpil who kept complaining about the parents not understanding that their son couldn’t play at the recital because he had missed most of his lessons and he wasn’t ready for it.

Wonpil was trying to explain how they’d be more recitals in the future, that they just had to wait until the kid learns the piece correctly… And then he was turning off the microphone and screaming to the phone that it was their entire fault for always forgetting the class schedules.

“You know what the worst part is?” Wonpil had made a pause to tell Jae that. “They’re obviously using the story of ‘ _my son goes to piano lessons’_ only to brag with their friends! Their son! Who even does that?”

(Jae is not sure of how Wonpil got that information, but he nodded when Wonpil claimed that).

Bubbles was also barking while Wonpil complained because Wonpil was complaining and stressed, and that made Bubbles felt stressed, and Jae only wanted for Wonpil to stop suffering and if he wasn’t able to grab that phone and hang up, he somehow decided that proposing was better.

Wonpil had laughed at that.

Because when Jae kneeled, ring box in hand (it had been in his suit pocket the whole time so it was really easy to take it), Bubbles immediately jumped towards him, making Jae fell down.

And then Bubbles was licking his cheeks, but Wonpil was laughing.

Though he then got mad because he had laughed while talking to that child’s parents and that was so unprofessional! He left the room after that to finish the call in peace, leaving Jae to deal with Bubbles and avoid for her to eat the ring box that had fallen with Jae too.

That had been an act of impulse, just as Younghyun named his attempt number six. And it’s not that Jae had told Younghyun about the number eight, but he casually just called him on the afternoon, once Wonpil was gone, about how he should control the constant impulse of wanting to ask Wonpil to marry him.

He wasn’t even seeing Younghyun, but he knew he was frowning.

(And Sungjin, who was there with him, should have been frowning too).

“The impulse of proposing” Younghyun had said. “That’s too bad even for you.”

“You’re not helping.”

“I don’t even know how am I supposed to help?”

Jae should have sighed. “Never mind, I just wanted to tell someone about this. I guess I’m gonna stop carrying the ring around everywhere.”

“What the fuck? You really do that?”

But if any of that hadn’t happened, Jae would have probably kept carrying the ring inside his suit’s pocket. And if that was the case, Jae’s sure he would have asked Wonpil to marry him in the instant the little girl was gone and Wonpil acknowledged his presence.

(Jae already made a reservation for a dinner on Friday, so he has to control himself—he kept it simply this time to avoid another mistake. The restaurant is fancy and expensive, and they had only gone once there on their last anniversary, so Jae knows how much Wonpil had liked it).

(A proposal in a restaurant couldn’t fail. Everyone knows that’s impossible to go wrong).

(Not even Jae can ruin that, right?).

(Ugh. Jae himself kind of disagrees with that. _Fuck_ ).

“They’re so nervous” it’s the first thing Wonpil says as he approaches him, wrinkling his nose as he does. “Yeeun insists that she forgot her piece, but she knows it by memory! She’s gonna do well.”

Jae smiles. “Of course she’s gonna do it well, she has the best teacher.”

Wonpil blushes. Oh, is it so bad that Jae wants to forget about the restaurant reservation and just ask him to marry him in that instant?

“Professor Moon is the best teacher” he says. She was Wonpil’s piano teacher when he was a kid and his inspiration to become a music teacher, “We already talked about this. She was so patient with me!”

Jae shrugs. “If that makes you happy—“

“It does!” Wonpil accepts. A young man appears on the door then, the one that Jae guesses it’s connected to the stage, as when it’s slightly opened Jae catches a glance of lights and two keyboards.

“We’re ready for the sound check for the duets, Wonpil-ssi” the man says. “We can start when you tell us to.”

“Right now is great!” Wonpil replies to him. He turns back to Jae after that, “I have to look for the kids and finish with the practices. You can stay here if you want or take a sit at the rows. The parents won’t enter until six anyways, so you can choose any seat, but don’t take the first lines, please. Your son won’t be playing in this recital, so let the best places for the parents.”

Jae decides to go to the sits instead of waiting in that room. He simply jumps the step that is the stage to take a sit on the first row. The two students that are now sitting behind the keyboards say they also want to try jumping the step and Wonpil explains them they can’t do that.

“If you jump your clothes are going to get wrinkled like Jae’s” he uses as an excuse. Jae laughs at that because his suit jacket is really wrinkled now—Wonpil has a good eye for details. “And you don’t want that for your first recital, right?”

The girl is the first one to whine. “No! I really like my dress!”

“My mom said my suit is expensive!” the boy says.

Wonpil mentioned that’s his first recital so Jae understands their reactions. It’s cute.

The man from before indicates Wonpil that they can start playing now. Jae easily recognizes the melody when the girl starts playing.

But when it’s the boy’s turn to start playing the same piece, there’s no other sound coming from his keyboard.

The boy stops playing. “Teacher, it’s not working!”

“We can solve that”, Wonpil is quickly standing in front of the keyboard, moving the cable that connects it. “Try it again, Jiwon-ah.”

The boy does as he’s said. Nothing. Jae notices how Wonpil is immediately growing worried.

“Don’t we have other cable?” Wonpil asks the man that seems to be the technician there. He nods and brings another one to replace it. It doesn’t work either.

“We have the piano!” he tells Jiwon. “You’ve played on it during some classes, remember?”

“But it’s different!” Jiwon immediately complains. “I can’t do it on it! It’s too big for me!”

“You’d be playing in the same section of keys, it doesn’t change that much” Wonpil tries to convince him.

Jiwon looks as if he’s about to cry. “It’s too big!” he repeats.

Wonpil sighs. Oh, he’s stressed. “Would you play the piano and lend Jiwon the keyboard, Hayoon?” he asks the girl this time.

“Jiwon is right!” the girl easily answers. “It’s too big for us!”

Wonpil glances towards the tech. “The school where we have the rest of the keyboards it’s closed by this hour…”

“We don’t have other keyboards” the tech informs Wonpil before he can ask. “You only told us to prepare two.”

Now Wonpil looks as if he’s about to cry.

Jae really hates when Wonpil cries. Is like if the entire world is crying too.

“I bring your keyboard from your apartment” Jae decides to interfere, standing from his seat in the middle of the rows. He checks his watch. “We still have time before the recital starts so I can go there and return if I hurry up.”

Wonpil is smiling but he looks nervous still. He glances at the tech once more. “Are you sure we don’t have other keyboard?” the man shakes his head. “Jiwon, Hayoon, do you really don’t want to play in the piano? It’s for big boys and girls! You’d be the only ones in your class to do it!”

“Teacher, why do you want to ruin our presentation?” Jiwon is pouting.

“What? Of course I don’t want that!”

“Then don’t make us play in the piano, please” Hayoon is crossing her arms. She gestures towards Jae. “He said he can bring us a keyboard!”

“I can do that” Jae nods. He searches for Wonpil’s eyes. His cheeks are tinged in pink, but that’s probably because he’s stressed. “I promise I’m gonna be quick and I’ll be right back before it starts, OK? You can trust me.”

Wonpil sighs.

“You know the keyboard it’s in my room” Wonpil ends up saying. He’s still not looking at Jae directly at the eyes, which is weird. “The cables are on the table next to my bed, in the second drawer. Just grab them and return, alright? Don’t… Don’t get distracted with anything else.”

Wonpil only raises his sight when he says the last phrase.

Jae winks at him. He tries to do it at least. Wonpil always tells him he’s cute when he does it because he’s terribly at it, and he laughs after that. Hayoon coos from her sit, commenting something about the teacher’s friend being so handsome. “A keyboard is coming then.”

But Wonpil doesn’t laugh this time. It’s strange.

The traffic was bad. Really bad.

It should have only taken ten minutes to arrive to Wonpil's place, not almost twenty.

Jae is running as soon as he's out of the elevator. Recently, he has run a lot with Bubbles, so it feels almost normal by now.

At least Jae's hands aren't shaking when he opens the door. He can't waste time on that.

He also runs towards Wonpil's room. They keyboard is right there, just as he's been told. Jae disconnects it and searches for the case that Wonpil uses when he takes it out from the house.

But Jae can't just find it, and he suddenly feels desperate so he decides to forget about it for some seconds and instead goes to the drawer.

There are lots of cables there. Jae curses out loud. He takes them all, but he quickly realizes he needs a backpack to carry them.

He will probably break the keyboard if he goes around carrying it with one hand and the numerous cables with the other. And that's the last thing Jae wants to.

Luckily, there's a backpack hanging on the back of Wonpil's room door.

Jae grabs it and returns to the drawer. The cables are tangled between them, so Jae simply moves the big ball of cables into the backpack without think it too much.

Then, he searches for the keyboard case again. For a second, Jae is tempted to leave without it when he takes another glance at his watch.

He's already been seven minutes on the apartment. And God knows how the traffic is going to be for his return.

The case ends up appearing under Wonpil's bed.

Jae's suit gets stuck with the opened drawer as he kneels to take it.

He has to shake his suit for it to reaccommodate. Once he has the case and he's ready to put the keyboard inside it, he gives a quick glance to the drawer just to make sure he's not forgetting anything before closing it.

He's glad he decided to double check.

Wonpil's ring box is there, half hidden under a small notebook. Jae groans. It must have fallen from his pocket when his suit got stuck with the drawer and he didn’t notice it.

Jae grabs it without thinking it. It could have been a huge mistake to leave it there. Wonpil would have found about him wanting to propose without Jae actually proposing—that would have been bad.

Jae returns it to his pocket. Younghyun will laugh if he tells him about it, which Jae of course doesn't plan to do.

He quickly places the keyboard inside the case, carries the backpack with one arm and leaves the apartment.

Jae looks at his watch as he's in the elevator.

He still has twenty minutes to return to the auditorium. He can make it.

Jae sends a text quickly to Wonpil, telling him he has the keyboard and he's on his way.

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes.

He completely forgets about the weight of the ring box inside his pocket.

Jae arrives five minutes before six. Five minutes is not enough time to make a proper sound check with the kids playing but at least Wonpil’s keyboard seems to be working perfectly.

Jiwoon and Hayoon both smile when they see Jae.

But Wonpil doesn’t. It’s weird.

They’re at Wonpil’s place after the recital, just like they had planned to do. Their way to the apartment is quiet considering it’s already late and Wonpil’s neighbors are probably asleep. Though maybe, the fact that Wonpil isn’t speaking also contributes to the silence.

He barely has said a word to Jae. It’s weird.

Jae tried asking if there was any problem with the parents Wonpil stayed talking to once the recital was over. Wonpil had shaken his head at that and then turned on the stereo of the car. Their way home hadn’t been silence just for the music playing and Wonpil’s humming.

Jae doesn’t comment anything else—maybe the recital hasn’t gone like Wonpil expected. He has no idea how things were supposed to be considering he was part of the public, but Wonpil’s the teacher and he can recognize mistakes. It must be that.

But then this other strange thing happens and Jae is confused.

Because as soon as Wonpil opens the door of his apartment, he runs towards his room. It’s weird, considering Jae’s the one carrying the keyboard so he’s not in a hurry to put it back on his place.

It’s weirder when Wonpil comes out of his room, only a few seconds later, and he has the same look that Jae just saw some hours ago.

It’s like if he’s about to cry.

“I can explain!” he’s whining.

Jae nods, confused. He really needs an explanation for whatever that’s happening.

Wonpil asks him to sit in the couch with him. He seems like if once again he’s missing a keyboard for a recital, but Jae’s aware that’s quite impossible—the recital is over and there’s just a very confused Jae next to him. They even have a functional keyboard if it’s even needed…?

“First of all” Wonpil begins to say, “I’m sorry for not telling you before.”

Jae doesn’t even bother in pretend he knows what Wonpil is talking about. But Wonpil’s not seeing him at the face right now, staring at his hands instead.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

Wonpil’s eyes are now closed. Is he nervous? Why?

“I promise I was gonna tell you about it eventually” he continues saying, ignoring Jae’s question. “I just… I think I was just waiting for you to give me a signal or something. I didn’t want it to be a burden for you because I get it’s a very important decision.”

The only thing that comes to Jae’s mind by listening the word ‘burden’ is Bubbles.

“Are you talking about my dog?” he blurts. “You don’t like her? It’s that?”

Wonpil squeals, “Why are you doing this? Bubbles is fine and you know that.”

Uh, but what is Jae even doing?

OK, they’ve done this before, right? They’re having two completely different conversations. Jae has experience on how to deal matters with this, so taking into account his last experience he just asks: “Wonpil, I think you should be more specific because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Wonpil opens his eyes. He looks at Jae with a not very amused grimace. “The ring, Jae. I’m talking about the ring.”

The ring. Right, _the ring_ , Jae thinks. A ring like the one he bought for Wonpil a month ago.

A ring like the one he’s been trying to use to propose to Wonpil.

The ring—

_Fuck._

But Wonpil can’t know about it. Jae’s been careful lately! Or not precisely careful, but all those times he had intended for Wonpil to see it something went wrong, so he doesn’t understand how Wonpil managed to know about it.

He even avoided for Wonpil to discover it when he picked it up from that drawer earlier. That could have been a huge slip.

And it sinks only then.

Now that he’s not running to get Wonpil’s keyboard or thinking in how Wonpil’s recital could go wrong if he doesn’t get back on time to that auditorium, Jae remembers that he no longer carries the ring with him now. _His_ ring.

But he still took a ring box from Wonpil’s drawer. As to prove that, Jae looks inside his suit pocket to confirm that the ring box is there. In the moment he raises it, Wonpil squeals. “You weren’t supposed to see that!”

Jae’s reaction it’s not better.

“You mean this one?” he exclaims, gesturing towards the ring. Wonpil groans again. “Wonpil, you had a ring hidden in your drawer!”

“Yes, because you weren’t supposed to see it!” he repeats, looking frustrated.

Jae feels his jaw drop, “You were thinking on proposing! You were thinking on proposing to me!"

He’s now standing in front of the couch, glancing at a very flustered Wonpil whining in the couch and covering his face with his hands. If Jae analyses the situation, he could easily compare the scene to his first failed marriage proposal.

Except that Wonpil was the one standing while Jae was just cluelessly thinking he had ruined everything and now he’s just cluelessly almost jumping out of either excitement or confusion, but the joy is there in his chest, so who cares anyways? Wonpil thought about marrying him just as Jae wants to marry him—no, of course Jae is _not_ analyzing that. He’s not even thinking on it when all his head can contain right now is a ‘ _Wonpil thought about marrying me!_ ’ and he suddenly feels a laugh coming out of his lips.

Wonpil thought about marrying him.

“Stop laughing!” Wonpil complains. “It’s not funny, hyung!”

But Wonpil thought about marrying him! “I’m not laughing because it’s funny, Wonpil-ah” Jae clarifies. He isn’t laughing anymore, but there’s this smile in his face he has no idea if he would ever be able to get rid of.

Jae sits in the floor next to where Wonpil is in the couch. Wonpil is still covering his face with his hands, but his fingers are slightly separated to create a small hole from where he’s seeing Jae.

“This might be a little strange” Jae begins, “But” he gulps, “I’ve kind of been trying to ask you to marry me for almost two months.”

It feels good to finally say it. It’s a big relief that Jae feels disappearing from his chest—

Wonpil’s hands fall immediately on both sides of his body, “You what?!”

Forget about the relief. Wonpil looks angry.

And Jae thinks, _fuck_. _Fuck, fuck, fuck…_

“That’s all you’re going to say?” Wonpil exclaims. Oh, so Jae actually said that out loud. Well, bigger fuck. “How do you even say you’ve been trying to propose when I…? Hold on” Wonpil stops. “That’s why you were acting weird! And you said it was for work! You lied!”

“I was trying to be romantic!”

“You lied!”

“But I lied to be romantic!”

“That’s still a lie!”

Jae frowns, “Well if we’re gonna talk about me being a liar, then what about you having that ring hidden?”

Wonpil’s cheeks are red. Something on his expression tells Jae he’s not precisely joking, “I bought it six months ago, OK? See? I’m not lying to you at your face at least.”

He’s definitely not joking.

“Wonpil-ah” Jae searches for Wonpil’s hand in the couch. Wonpil allows him to take it, which is a good signal. “Are you mad at me because I took the ring from your drawer? It was an accident! I was in a hurry when I came for your keyboard and I thought it had fallen from my suit. I’d never poke around your things!” Jae continues saying, rubbing gently his thumb over the back of Wonpil’s hand. “I know I probably ruined whatever you were planning to do with that ring, and I’m so sorry but—“

“I wasn’t planning to do anything with it” Wonpil interrupts him. Jae’s movements with his thumb stop. Oh. “I bought it six months ago but I never tried to propose like you said you’ve been doing this past month because I don’t know what to do with it.”

_Oh._

“Why?” the question leaves him before he can think it twice. “You don’t want to marry me?”

“I do!” Wonpil exclaims. “But I don’t know what you want!”

Jae frowns, “I want to marry you too.”

“Yes, now I know that, but before you never mentioned anything!” Wonpil shakes his head, “The only times we talked about getting married it was more joking than a real chat” Wonpil keeps explaining. “Besides that, we never really talked about that. So when I realized one day that I wanted to marry you, I impulse bought the ring, but I couldn’t just ask! This is something that needs to be discussed! I was afraid that you thought I was going too far, so I decided to leave some hints first to see if you were even considering marriage as an option because we really never mentioned before when we talked about our future as a couple. I didn’t want to put any kind of pressure over you. I started showing you those proposal videos, you remember them?” Jae nods. “You never commented anything about them” Wonpil says. “And… We don’t even live together yet. We’ve never discussed that even if we’ve been dating for four years, and I just thought that maybe we weren’t ready for marriage so I just kept the ring thing for myself.”

He’s right—they never… They’ve never really talked about moving together. Wonpil has never brought the topic out. And Jae has never tried to do that either.

Jae and his problem. Jae _is_ the problem.

“Wonpil-ah” he mumbles. Wonpil looks at him with his doe eyes, “I’m sorry for not being able to show initiative in our relationship. In the past month and… Three weeks” he says after counting the days of seventh and eight attempts, “I’ve been telling myself that’s the problem of why I can’t properly ask you to marry me, that I can’t show initiative. It’s always been you the one who asks things and tries first. That’s why I was so determinate to make something perfect for your proposal, but I discovered I’m so bad at that. I've tried it to do it eight times, you know? And either I ruined it or you were confused of what I was trying to do, so it didn't work."

Wonpil beams slightly.

“But I hadn’t given up even after that” Jae continues, “because you’re right, I should have talked to you about that before deciding to do it because it’s an important step in our relationship, but I also wanted to be able to finally demonstrate to you that I can have initiative too for something that involves the two of us. I love you, and I want to be with you the rest of my life, that’s why… That’s why I think on marrying you in the first place, because I couldn’t imagine having to keep saying to you goodbye when one of us leaves home. I want to wake up next to you every morning and go to sleep with you by my side” Jae takes a deep breath. “I want to marry you because I love you and I want us to be together forever. I... I get we're adults now, and I don't want you to keep doing the big things in our relationship alone like when we started dating. I want to be like you and organize nice dates and make you as happy as you've made me feel all this time.”

Wonpil gives him a reassuring smile, "Hyung, you already make me so happy" he says kindly. Jae is confused. "Of course I've noticed that you tend to be a little cumsly in these kinds of things, but I don't care about that. I love you for who you are and how you make me feel, not because you're some sort of romance expert."

Jae thinks on his problem. On him being a problem. 

But he's really not one. Not for Wonpil. 

"I love you too, Wonpil-ah" Jae beams up.

“I know you do, but I think we could have been more direct about this whole thing” Wonpil sighs. “This is a conversation we should have had when we both think on marriage.”

“Your hints were good” Jae admits. “I really liked the video with the puppy.”

Wonpil squints at him, “Don’t tell me you got Bubbles only because of that.”

“Then I’m not telling you that.”

“Jae!” Wonpil giggles, hugging him. It’s a strange hug considering Jae’s still sitting in the floor and Wonpil’s taller because of that—it’s so strange, just like things have been between them lately, especially now that they both have told the other all those things they thought about their relationship. But a good kind of strangeness. Jae likes it, “Those videos weren’t for you to copy them! They were supposed to make us talk about marriage!”

“Well, I got the message wrong” Jae says between a laugh. “But you can’t exactly complain considering you also kept getting my messages wrong.”

Wonpil is no longer hugging him, frowning, “You said your proposals went wrong because of yourself.”

“But you ruined some of them too!” Jae groans, “I directly asked you to marry me that Friday when I forgot to pick you up from the school” Jae tells him. He points at Wonpil’s room door. “We were there and I asked you to marry me.”

“I thought you were joking” Wonpil rolls his eyes. “You made it sound like a bad distraction to make me ignore that you forgot about me.”

“I give you that” Jae hums, “but what about when I asked you two weeks ago, when were at your apartment on Wednesday?”

Wonpil wrinkles his nose, “Two weeks ago on Wednesday?”

“We slept together” Jae reminds him.

Wonpil scowls, “You asked me to marry you during sex?”

“I was distracted!” Jae excuses himself. “You were distracting me and I love you, what else was I supposed to do?”

Wonpil is soon chuckling. “You’re really bad at that, hyung.”

Jae nods, “The worst.”

“I’m happy that we’re finally talking about this” Wonpil says. There’s a trace of his last laugh on his smile. Jae thinks he’s the luckiest person for being with Wonpil right now. “I’m happy that you decided to do all those proposals to impress me even if you didn't need to do that.”

“Wait until you hear them all, probably you won’t like it then.” 

Wonpil shakes his head, “I want to know about them" Jae starts to complain. "And" Wonpil adds, "at least we have Bubbles now.”

“Bubbles hates me.”

“Maybe she can feel you were gonna use her” Wonpil suggests. Jae squeals at that. “What? Dogs are smart!”

“Does this mean we’re engaged now?” Jae decides to ask instead. Wonpil purses his lips together. “You have your ring and I have mine, but…”

“Continue” Wonpil encourages him when he stops midsentence. Jae smiles at that. Right, he’s working on showing initiative now.

“After all this confusion, I think we should do something first and then think about marriage, because I don’t think neither of us is completely ready for that” it’s what he says. “What do you think about moving out together instead?”

Wonpil is beaming. He should have imagined that he was going to say that. “I think that’s perfect.”

“We need to look for a building that allows dogs, though” Jae adds. “Or meanwhile we can stay at mine and then look for something better? Because Dowoon is also going to need his room and mine only has one.”

Wonpil chuckles. “Dowoon is probably gonna move with Hajoon once this semester is over” he says. “He told me Hajoon offered him the other room in his apartment, and Dowoon is still thinking on that, but I know he’s going to say yes.”

Jae frowns, “Are they—?”

“Not yet” Wonpil answers. “But they’re too obvious, right?”

Jae thinks on Hajoon and on Dowoon and on each other mentioning the other’s name. He doesn’t mention out loud that only then is that he thought on that.

“OK, we can wait until Dowoon solves his romance life then” Jae decides.

Wonpil agrees with that. “Yes, we can wait until he's really ready.”

Jae smiles. He understands that they aren’t exactly talking about Dowoon anymore. “We can wait” he repeats.

And that’s exactly what they do.

Number nine ends up being Jae’s lucky number.

By the time it happens, Wonpil has been living on his apartment for six months and Bubbles is tall enough to reach the upper part of Jae’s chest when she stands on both of her feet.

Jae doesn’t even plan anything for attempt number nine. It’s not needed. Not when one afternoon he’s lying on his bed with Wonpil by his side and he keeps thinking on how much he loves him. And he tells him precisely that. And Wonpil smiles because he understands.

“I want to be the one who asks you!” Wonpil tells him, suddenly standing up and going to the drawer of the table next to the bed. He has the ring box in his hand.

Jae scowls, “Sorry, but did you try it eight times before?”

“That’s a low blow! I bought the ring before you!”

“That’s a low blow too” Jae answers back. He goes and searches for his own ring box. They’re now sitting right in front of the other in the bed. “Wonpil-ah, would you—?”

“Marry me!” Wonpil completes the phrase before he can. Jae laughs at that. “We both did it at the same time!”

Jae’s still laughing as he takes the ring out of its box and places it on Wonpil’s finger. “I guess we did.”

Wonpil’s does the same with his own ring. He’s beaming, and Jae’s so, so lucky.

Bubbles barks then, demanding attention. She climbs to the bed and she’s immediately trying to play with the ring boxes that they left over the bed sheets. Wonpil grabs them before she can, and Bubbles soon forgets about them and starts licking Wonpil’s cheeks.

Wonpil giggles, trying to make her stop. And Jae is giggling too because that’s just Wonpil’s laugh effect over him. It’s weird, but it’s fine—Jae knows everything was fine between them before and he knows things won’t change in that sense.

“Summer or Winter?” he asks Wonpil. He receives a confused glance because of that. “For our wedding” Jae clarifies. If he didn’t manage to give Wonpil one of those dreamy proposals, he can ensure their wedding is perfect, “I think that’s the first thing we should decide.”

"Definitely spring” Wonpil beams up. "You know it's my favorite. What do you think?"

“Spring is always nice" Jae nods, smiling too.

“Then spring!” Wonpil exclaims. “One of my friends from the university is a wedding planner” he adds, “I’ve seen photos of the events she’s worked on, they’re so pretty!”

Wonpil is doing it again. Jae grows slightly worry at that. He’s taking the initiative and Jae is just standing there—

“I want to help her then” Jae says. Wonpil smiles at him. “I want to be part of all the organization and everything. I want to give you that.”

“We can both participate on it, hyung” Wonpil is still smiling. “We’re together in this, right?”

Jae smiles back. He doesn’t try to hide the relief he feels because even if he’s awkward at things like that and he has managed to ruin some of the dates he organized in the past few months, Wonpil is there to help him out and Jae isn’t scared anymore to admit he desperately needs help sometimes, “Right. We’re together on this.”

Suddenly, Bubbles licks Wonpil’s cheeks again, making Wonpil giggle with the gesture and stopping him from looking at Jae.

Jae giggles too. It’s not weird at all.

There’s no more reason of any problem to be worried about, because it ends up being that Jae’s problem wasn’t really a problem for them anyways.


End file.
